Graffiti trends paint a bad picture

For Tustin police, fighting graffiti is a major part of preventing blight, and the more serious crimes that can follow. But unfortunately, it's become a bigger battle.

Since July 2010 the number of reported graffiti incidents has steadily gone up, making the petty crime more of a burden for law enforcement and a more expensive problem to clean up.

A part of the increase is due to the rise of social media, the head of the Tustin Police Department's special operations division said. Taggers like attention and these websites give them the chance to show off their latest move in a game of bad guys trying to outdo each other. Before, taggers would just try to put graffiti in high-visibility places, like along a busy freeway.

"But now, any kid with a phone can take that picture and transmit it. It's their 15 minutes of fame," said Lt. Tom Tarpley, commander of the special operations division.

Also, Tustin has two freeways, and flat surfaces along these roads are a favorite spot for taggers who want plenty of people to see what they do, he said.

Also, police and city officials said a handy graffiti-tracking program on their smart phones makes it easier than before to report, track and remove the vandalism, while also identifying suspects. It's so convenient that officers are more likely to report graffiti, a change in practice that also inflates their statistics. The app's developer confirmed that jurisdictions that use the program typically see their number of reports go up.

The increase in Tustin doesn't appear to be slowing down. From January 1 through April 30, the most recently available data available, there were 1,660 reported incidents of graffiti, up nine percent from the same period in 2012, and 32 percent from 2011. In 2012 there were 4,811 incidents, up from 3,991 the year before.

Around 80 percent of the incidents are due to tagging crews or gangs, while the rest is due to the easier reporting process, Tarpley said.

Most graffiti ends up in southwest Tustin, and gang-hangouts and paths to and from schools are particularly vulnerable, said Lt. Paul Garaven, a Police Department spokesman.

The cost of this crime is going up, too. In April, the last full month with data available, it cost around $19,000 a month to remove and paint over graffiti, up $7,000 from April 2011. On average, it costs around $40 to remove each piece of graffiti, Garaven said.

Exactly how much a particular incident costs depends on several factors, said Josh Woods, director of sales and marketing for Graffiti Control Systems, the contractor that works for Tustin.

The first factor is the surface that the graffiti is painted onto. That will determine what sort of removal technique is required, and how it will be re-painted. They use a high-pressure chemical wash to blast the paint off, and then paint over it with a hue that matches the original surface as best as possible, and is "feathered" at its edges so it blends in.

"You paint it so the wall will look like it is a part of the original surface," he said.

The difficulty in removing the tag, as well as the number of coats of paints also affects the cost, he said.

A smart phone app has made the graffiti war easier to wage than before, Tarpley said. Equipped with the Tracking and Automated Graffiti Tracking System, or TAGRS, officers are able to take a picture, pinpoint the location, and include notes in a report they can file with their phone. From there, Graffiti Control Systems can be dispatched to the graffiti, remove it, and send a bill. And finally, since the report is included in a database, allowing investigators to follow on a map where graffiti occurs, and track how gangs spread across neighborhoods.

The icon for the mobile app TAGRS displays on a smartphone that Tustin police use to document and fight graffiti around the city. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Police Services Officer Marcella Sambrano takes photos of some graffiti in an apartment complex near Myrtle and McFadden in Tustin recently. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Police Services Officer Marcella Sambrano marks where graffiti has been written on garbage cans in an apartment complex near Myrtle and McFadden so that other officers will immediately be able to tell the graffiti has been documented and noted for removal in Tustin. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Police Services Officer Marcella Sambrano drives into an apartment complex near Myrtle and McFadden where the wall has been spray painted with graffiti. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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